


Young Rose

by CatZ_BatZ07



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Hero Akechi, Justice, M/M, Stripper Akira, Strippers & Strip Clubs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-06-28
Packaged: 2018-11-20 13:34:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11336553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatZ_BatZ07/pseuds/CatZ_BatZ07
Summary: The Phantom Thieves decide to change the heart of an owner of a strip club. But things tend to complicate themselves...





	Young Rose

**Author's Note:**

> The fanfic does handle more mature themes but there isn't anything explicit and there won't be anymore chapters as this fanfic is just a one-shot.

Ryuji scrolled down the Phan Site looking for new palaces that the Phantom Thieves could invade. They were sitting around Akira's room, peering at Ryuji's phone. 

"Hold on there's something about forced prostitution here and it's to be happening at a strip club!" Ryuji's eyes popped as he read the last few words. 

"Just your scene Ryuji." Morgana snickered. 

"Shut up Morgana!" Ryuji glared angrily at Morgana's smirk. 

"What else did they say about the club?"

"Are you seriously considering this Akira?" Ryuji asked, looking surprised. He didn't think Akira would care too much about this sort of stuff. 

"If somebody's in trouble then we need to help them, regardless of the circumstances!" Makoto said stubbornly. 

"Makoto's right! For all we know it could be happening to any of us!" Ann sounded quite passionate. 

"Alright alright calm down. It's happening at a place called "The Young Rose" and some woman called Mrs Huã is running as the pimp and the owner at the same time. Apparently she lures minors to the club and takes pictures of them as evidence of them unlawfully being there. Then she threatens to leak them to the police if they don't do as she says. Pretty sad, huh?" Ryuji looked less reluctant to act now. 

"Seems like we need to change Mrs Huã's heart." Yusuke brushed his hair out of his eyes and looked straight at Akira, as if he was expecting him to give an answer. 

"What do you say leader?" Makoto said it to Joker as if he really had a choice to say whether they should go or not. 

"We'll do it. Let's visit the palace tomorrow."

The Phantom Thieves agreed to the new arrangement and one by one began to head home eagerly awaiting the new day. 

\-------------------------------------------------

The Phantom Thieves met in a small alley outside of the high school.

"The keywords are Sophie Huã and strip club."

"Guess we should look for the magic word. Any ideas?" Ryujii asked looking around the group. 

"A school?"

It was an immediate match. 

"First try!" Said Ann, looking quite triumphant.

"Well it was a bit obvious." Yusuke commented. 

"Still..." Ann looked disappointed at the group's lack of interest. 

Akira activated the app and for a second the Earth shook and lights flashed in their eyes before they appeared at an illuminated red building with a large sign that declared "The Young Rose" in bright hot pink writing. They all had their high school clothes still on, so it seemed like they weren't classed as a threat just yet. 

"I guess this is it." Ryujii looked like he was going to be sick. 

"I don't know why you look so upset Ryuji you seemed quite happy on the beach trip." Yusuke said that like it was a common fact. 

"Yusuke!" Miss Student President exclaimed, her chocolate brown eyes even wider than usual. 

"What he said is completely and utterly true. Maybe Ryuji's afraid of getting caught out!?" Morgana looked quite happy making digs at Ryuji like that. 

"Enough talking let's get going!" declared Haru, seeming keener than usual. 

"Agreed lets not waste precious time." Akechi declared, in favour of Haru. 

The Phantom Thieves paced up the literally glowing stairs. The building looked like like a gleaming star in the night sky, compared to the other bland, grey buildings. 

As they opened the doors a body guard stood in the doorway. He questioned their age. They faked their age saying they were older than they actually were. 

"She doesn't look that old." The guard said pointing to futaba. 

"She's just short." Makoto lied. 

"Right...Head in then."

"Weird they didn't ask for payment," Akechi pondered. 

"It's a palace, things don't have to work completely to how they do in reality." Morgana responded. 

They got inside the room and noticed that all of the people performing on stage were wearing Shujin Academy and a few other school uniforms belonging to other high schools. They all had the same faces, only the girls had black eyeliner painted onto their eyelids whilst the boys did not. 

"They're all from school!" Ann practically shouted looking shocked and disgusted. 

"This can't be happening." Haru muttered in her soft voice. 

"I guess the rumours are true then." Akira said. He didn't look weirded out. In fact he didn't seem to care at all. 

As they looked around they began to see people looking their age holding up signs that showed how much they were worth. As the group studied the building they heard people muttering and saying things like "I prefer 'em young," and "not a bad deal eh?"

"This is how some adults actually see these poor students. Like objects!" Makoto looked angry. Really really angry. Like reacting to Kamoshida being a complete perve to Ann angry. 

"Wait a second are they wearing chains? This is no better then slavery!" Futaba shouted. Everybody looked eother furious or disgusted or a mix of both at this point. 

"We need to find that woman and put a stop to this." Akira said firmly. 

The gang followed Akira to a big red door. Akira's pale hand slipped over the great, metal handle before he was bombarded by a guard carrying a whip for a weapon. What a strange weapon for a guard, Akira thought to himself. 

"Evening Mr Security Guard." Ann beamed at the man, giving him her best fake smile. 

"Only staff are allowed here."

"We have an important meeting with Mrs Huã."

"Then why are you all in uniform." The security guard raised a thick eyebrow at them. 

"Get out of our way before I make you!" Makoto practically screamed to the guard. All of a sudden their clothes turned back to their thief outfits. 

"People of your age who aren't respectful to their elders will be punished!" The security guard turned into a bright pink monster made out of a jelly substance. 

"This is why you should let me do the talking." Mona rolled her eyes. 

"Morgana your a cat." Fox said calmly, despite the current situation they were in. 

"Watch out!" Joker shouted before using fire as a shield against the shadow's attack. 

"Persona!" Panther shoured lashing out at the jelly monster. Something about this palace reminded her of Kamoshida which made her even infuriated. 

The Phantom Thieves took turns attacking the monster until it finally dissolved into dust. 

"Open the door!" Morgana told them. Ryuji grabbed that handle and attempted to pull it open.

"It's not opening!"

"Try kicking it." Mona responded 

"Have you tried pushing it." asked Crow. Ryujii pushed the door open. 

"It worked!" Ryuji exclaimed. 

"Dumbass." Morgana muttered.

"Hey you're the one who said to kick it." Ryuji retorted. They were behaving like quibbling siblings. 

"Be quiet both of you!" Futaba snapped. 

In the next room there was a cream sofa and more doors leading out to other rooms. There was a bar with lights surrounding it. In fact the whole place was illuminated in lights, but not to the point where it strained your eyes to look at them. They were all the colour Panther's glove but even brighter. 

A few students waited at the doors. They all had the same soulless eyes and seemed to be awaiting instructions from somebody who wasn't going to come. It sent shivers down Akira's spine. 

"They all look the same. It doesn't matter who they are, all Mrs Huã cares about is if they are young, fairly attractive people who can earn her money. How utterly disgusting." Akechi commented, his eyes narrowed in hatred. 

"I'm assuming Mrs Huã is behind that door." Fox nodded towards a chained up steel door. However, a security guard was standing near the door. He was big and muscular and not somebody you would want to pick a fight with. 

"Unless you have serviced Mrs Huã you cannot go through the door." The security guard said. 

"Then we'll just take it by force!" Ryuji's eyes shone at the the thought of finally heading straight into action. They defeated the guard and proceeded to snap the chains on the door before Morgana intervened. 

"Wait! I doubt that will work." Mona spoke up. 

"Why not Mona-chan?" Asked Noir. 

"If the door is chained up like that, then it means that it will only open to somebody that has made a lasting impression on Mrs Huã meaning we may have to meet her in real life in order to get the door open." 

"Oh great." Fox rolled his eyes at the prospect of going to the club in reality. 

"No way am I going!" Oracle squeaked. 

"I'm falling behind on my art project and I've got to much art work to catch up on from taking time off school. I can't make it tomorrow. Or the day after." 

"Then that leaves Ann, Akira, Makoto, Ryuji, Haru and Akechi. 

"As the famous one here I think I'm going to sit this one out for the sake of my reputation." Crow smiled politely at the other members. Despite his beaming smile his eyes were dull. 

"Your loss." Joker smirked. 

\-------------------------------------------------

The next day, at around 8 at night, when the silver moon rose above their heads, Akira, Ryujij, Ann, Haru and Makoto travelled to "The Young Rose". As soon as they walked up to the bright red door, a security guard stopped and asked for money to get in. The four of them pretended to stare blankly at each other, acting like they had forgotten the money.

"If you ain't got money you can't go in."

"Wait. Maybe one of us could work in there for the night for free if the others get to go in?" Ann fluttered her eyes for effect. In the corner of his eye, Akira noticed Ryujii gaping at her. 

"I suppose I could ask the boss. I might even get a promotion for this." The guard suggested that they wait for the boss to come, who was most likely Mrs Huã herself. 

They waited for nearly half an hour for the manager to come. Just as they were about to leave a woman appeared from the depths of the club. She had platinum blond hair and wore way to much make up, to the point where she almost looked like a clown. She greeted the guard and they talked for a few minutes. 

"They certainly look young enough well done!" She said to her employee. Her heavily made up brown eyes moved up and down the teenagers before stopping at Akira. He left his glasses at the café especially for any given situation happening at the club. 

"You with the pretty grey eyes I want you to do some errands for me. You will do as I say if you want your and your friends to come inside." 

Akira nodded at her. Makoto shifted nervously from foot to foot, not liking how this sounded. 

"Excellent! Then come on through!" The woman seemed suspiciously enthusiastic. 

The place was decorated in pink lights and stages were scattered across the vast room. People were cheering on the dancers and scattering cash at them, like it was nothing. The dancers all looked quite young and most of them looked miserable if you looked further than their fake smiles. 

Mrs Huã ushered Akira away from the others. They looked very sceptical about Akira being separated from them but didn't protest. 

"Have you ever pole danced before?" The awful woman asked Akira. He shook his head. 

"Just watch the others performance and then copy them. Oh and unbutton your shirt. If there's enough hype back out there throw it out to the crowd. Oh and I'll be watching your performance." She smiled at Akira, showing the whites of her teeth. He was surprised they weren't stained with her scarlet lipstick. 

They watched Akira disappear to the back of the stage. 

"I hope he'll be ok..." Makoto sighed. 

"What's there to worry about? I'm sure he'll be fine." Ann reassured her. Ryuji was to busy staring gormlessly at the other strippers to take notice of their conversation. 

After a while Akira finally approached the pole. He flipped his head back and continued to dance around the pole. And who would've thought it but he was a natural. People (mostly women) began to circle around him. Both Ryuji and Makoto's jaw dropped open as Akira slipped down the metal pole. His neck was pushed against it and he pushed his head back. His hair was falling revealing charcoal tainted eyes. He didn't seem to acknowledge the crowd though, instead he was too busy swaying on the pole to the music. 

None of them uttered a word as he spun down the pole, occasionally brushing his hair out the way and smirking at the crowd. He took his shirt off, like Mrs Huã had advised him to and threw it to the crowd without bothering to look back. Ann jumped up into the air, nearly colliding with Haru in the process, and caught it, looking as though she'd won the lottery. But everyone was to entranced with Akira to notice her triumphant grin. His handsome features had swayed the crowd as soon as he'd crept up to the pole. 

Once the song was over he bowed to the crowd and sauntered off the stage, without looking back once. 

"He was surprisingly good." Makoto said, looking a bit bewildered. 

"He's amazing!" Exclaimed Ann.

"Hey Ryuji are you okay?" Asked Haru looking genuinely concerned. Whilst Akira was dancing he hadn't uttered a word, which was strange for Ryujii. Afterwards he just stared off into space looking a bit bewildered. 

"I don't get it..." Ryuji said to himself. The girls looked at each other, confused.

"I mean that dance was good I guess but I was looking at the girls!" Ryuji replied, talking in a rush. 

"Alright then..." Makoto suspected she knew what was happening with Ryuji, though she wasn't going to point it out, for the sake of his pride. 

Akira had finally returned after his interlude from the stage. 

"Akira you were great!" Ann said enthusiastically. 

"Yeah you seriously stood out from other dancers! In a good way!" Ryujii praised him. 

Akira rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Thanks guys. Hey Ann could I have my shirt back?" Akira said it more like a statement then a question. 

Ann gave the white cloth to him reluctantly. Before the group could say anything more to Akira Mrs Huã walked up to them. 

"Akira sweetheart you were stunning. I'm surprised you've never pole danced before! Anyways I'd like to request a private audience with you." 

"No way is he doing that!" Ann immediately protested. 

"If you want to stay here then you'll do as I say. Otherwise I'll report you to the cops that you illegally came here under a false identity. Got it?" Mrs Huã gave them a big fake smile and signalled Akira to go with her. 

"It's fine I've got it handled." Akira assured the group. Then he whispered in a low voice, "if I don't come back after 10 minutes, look for me."

Then Akira trailed after Mrs Huã who had disappeared into the battlefield of sex. 

After several minutes of waiting worried for the safety of their friend, the Phantom Thieves proceeded to go through that same door, only to be stopped by another security guard. 

"What are you doing?" He asked sternly. 

"We were looking for a private room. I think you know the rest." Makoto answered smoothly without showing any signs of lying. 

"You can pass then. Empty rooms are through the right." The security guard stepped beside the door to let them through. 

"Now let's find Akira." Ann said it like they were in an anime, on an urgent mission. 

They searched room after room until they found him. He was lying asleep on the sofa. 

"He's asleep!?" Ann and Ryuji shrieked. 

"Oh god. What if she drugged him?" Makoto looked very worried as she said that. She bit her lip anxiously, hoping that Akira was ok. 

"Do you think she'd really do that?" Haru whispered, biting her lip anxiously.

"Hey do you hear that?" Ryuji alerted them. There were whispers coming from the next room. They were slowly getting louder. It dawned on Makoto that the people who most likely drugged Akira were very dangerous and about to come into the room any moment now. 

"Hide!" Makoto ordered. The group paced around the room until they finally spotted a good hiding place. They rushed behind a room divider and a sofa. 

"Shit! What if we're caught?!" Ryuji thought aloud. 

"Shhh just listen." Ann muttered, rolling her eyes. 

"How much will he be?" A dark gravely voice asked. 

"HE BE!" Ann repeated the man as quietly as her shocked state of mind would allow her, considering the circumstances they were in. 

"Shhh!" They all said to Ann. 

"He'll be about 10 hundred. This is a person we're talking about after all." A woman's voice answered. The voices became muffled again. 

"How do we stop this?" Ryuji asked, looking more anxious then anyone had ever seen him be in his life. But he wasn't the laid back one out of the group. Akira was. And now they were about to lose him. 

"Hold on I have an idea." Makoto swiped out her phone. 

"Now we just wait." Was all she said. 

"What did you do?" Ann asked her eyes big, blue and wide. 

"You'll see." Makoto responded looking confident. 

Mrs Huã and the man came into the group's sight. A dark haired man stood next to the tall woman. He had a little stubble on his face and wore a dark jacket. A scarf was wrapped around his neck, possibly to cover up his identity as he roamed around in the club. 

"You did quite well on this one. He'll do nicely." The man declared. He cocked his head to the side as if he was sizing Akira up like he was just an object to be bought. "Might need a haircut though." 

Akira began to stir in his sleep.

"How much of the drug did you give him?" The man asked the speechless woman. His voice sounded deeper and his eyes gleamed more meaner than before. He looked annoyed. 

"He should've been waking up in four hours. I don't understand this shouldn't be happening!" Her usually calm voice had turned frantic and panicked. 

Akira opened his eyes and immediately sat up, not recognising his surroundings. He looked at the two adults glaring at him. 

"What do you want?" Akira demanded, his voice only tinted in fear. His eyes widened as the man produced a gun out of his pocket. 

"Shut the fuck up and do as your told." He ordered in a gruff voice. The teenagers stared at the man, unable to do anything about the situation. They'd never felt so useless, so helpless. 

All of a sudden voices began to build up in the room next door. 

"What's going on?" The man with no name asked the woman. 

"How should I know?" The woman replied. 

A grin began to spread across Makoto's face as she realised what was happening. 

"Everybody put your hands in the air!" Men and women in police uniforms ran into the room pointing their guns at the two very shocked adults. 

An non-uiformed person with light brown hair and a matching set of bambi eyes ordered the man to drop the gun. It was Akechi. He glowered at the man who immediately dropped his gun and threw his hands into the air, scared of the look in Akechi's eyes. 

The two adults were handcuffed and pushed out the room. 

\-------------------------------------------------

Everyone was ordered to evacuate the club. Outside everbody who'd emerged from the club were either being interrogated or waiting to be. 

"And the woman talked about selling you? A police officer was questioning Akira whilst scribbling done information on a pad. He simply nodded not feeling able to say anymore. 

Makoto stared at the crowd around them. Akechi had rounded up a lot of police officers. 

"I have a question Makoto." Makoto heard a soft, pleasant voice behind her. 

"What is it?"

"Why did you text me instead of Sae?" Akechi asked her in a hushed tone. 

"Sae probably wouldn't even see the message. But I knew you'd reply to it immediately because whether you like it or not you care about Akira. A lot."

"I..." Akechi was lost for words. 

"You don't have to say anything. But when the time is right, tell him." Makoto advised him before walking away, leaving Akechi deep in thought. He looked over to see Akira who was staring off into space. The raven haired teen looked troubled, maybe even a bit frightened. The Phantom Thieves were around him and yet he didn't acknowledge their idle chatter. He looked isolated in a way, trapped in a world of his own. 

Akechi's fist tightened at the thought of those two shits hurting Akira. He was going to make them pay for that, dearly.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comments if you enjoyed my work because it keeps me writing


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